January 12, 2011

What a Difference a Few Hundred Years Makes

I am currently reading Charles Rappleye’s biography of Robert Morris (a somewhat unknown founding father who played an unbelievably large role in the founding of this nation), and I wanted to share a passage in the book I found extremely interesting:

……Morris’ resignation highlighted one feature that distinguishes the American Revolution from so many of the revolutions that would follow: its leadership almost uniformly abhorred the positions of power they came to assume. Like Washington and Nathanael Greene, like Jay and Duane in New York and Dickinson in Pennsylvania and even Henry Laurens, Robert Morris entered public life reluctantly, out of a sense of duty, and always considered it a burden. None of these prime actors fought to hold on to power the way their successors did in France, in Russia, in China, or in most of the tumults that marked the Age of Revolution; each of them---save for Jay, a born jurist----would step down from their positions of responsibility as soon as they felt they were able. This is not to disparage the motivations of any particular, later revolutionists, but to point out one key characteristic of this first, remarkable revolution.

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